Brian Laudrup names the player Beale must start with to beat Celtic

Brian Laudrup has told Daily Mail readers that he believes Micky Beale can come out of Celtic Park on Saturday with the win needed to bring the SPFL title race back to life.

The Danish winger doesn’t offer much substance to his theory other than they have to improve on their performance in February’s Viaplay Cup Final.

Ange Postecoglou will be delivering a similar message to his squad, it seems to have escaped most pundits notice that Celtic were well short of their best at Hampden.

The hoops got very little out of their wingers, on home soil on a decent pitch Jota and Daizen Maeda will be expected to recreate the carnage of the Derby victories last February and September.

Tentatively in the Daily Mail Laudrup admits:

Rangers badly need to show more — much more — than they did at Hampden.

There was a lot of criticism from supporters about Beale’s team selection and the approach of certain players as the first trophy of the season slipped away. That’s life at a club of this size. There’s no hiding place.

In my eyes, they sat back too much and showed Celtic too much respect. They neither applied pressure nor were compact enough to deny their opponents space.

This time, I believe Beale will go very high in phases of the game to try and unsettle Celtic. You can’t do it for 90 minutes but, as we’ve seen in European games, there is a chance to knock this team out of its stride by picking the right moments to press hard.

Which player can make the difference? Laudrup explains:

I hope Todd Cantwell is picked this time. When he came on at Hampden, it was too late to make any impact. I felt Beale got that wrong. I like the tenacity I’ve seen from Cantwell, as well as his technique. He’s a clever player.

With his level of talent, I’d like to see him raise his stats over time. One goal and two assists from eight league games is an okay start. But I believe he’s got the capability to continually be a creative influence the further he gets into his Rangers career.

There aren’t arguments any more about Cantwell being new to Scottish football. That’s gone. He’s ready. Trust him to show what he can do against Celtic, then we can make judgments about his performance afterwards.

If Beale takes on board the suggestions of the Great Dane and attacks Celtic there could be some very serious consequences in a defence that has lost eight goals to the hoops in three matches this season.